No Contest Book 2 Hard Fought 1991 93Chapter 28
- 2 years ago
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Joe awoke with a start, but the beautiful body before him quickly calmed him. The covers had lowered so he could look at her soft skin and her gentle curves. He kissed her shoulder.
“Mmm,” Essie reacted, turning to him.
“Hey,” he smiled. “Been awake?”
“Just a few minutes. I enjoyed having you behind me and especially that amazing cock pressed between my thighs.
“Morning wood,” he explained.
“I know.”
“I figured you would, smart ass.”
“You seem to like my ass, smart or not.”
“I love your ass, as you well know, little vixen. But morning wood has its purpose.”
“Go. You want breakfast?”
“There’s a decent diner near here.”
“Sounds good. Shower?”
“Give me a few minutes.”
“Of course.”
They kissed lightly not minding a little morning breath. Joe grabbed his bag to remedy his though. “You can use my toothbrush if you don’t mind,” he offered.
“I don’t. Our mouths have gotten rather intimate.”
“True,” he chuckled.
“Do you mind if I have some private time in the bathroom before we shower?”
“Nope.”
After his ablutions, he let her have hers before he heard the shower start and her calling him. “Uncle Joe.”
He entered the shower with her in it. “Can you stop calling me Uncle Joe?” he asked.
“Nope,” she said, which got her a spank. “Ooh.”
“You like that,” he said, spanking her again.
“I do, but I’m sore,” she pouted.
“I’d be surprised if you weren’t,” he said, kissing her shoulder again.
He got the washcloth and soap and washed her back, and then her front. She did the same for him, especially his half hard cock. They took turns washing each other’s hair, his massage of her scalp making her moan. Rinsing off and kissing, they got out and dried themselves.
A little while after, they sat across from each other at a small diner table. Eggs, bacon, hash browns, wheat toast. Nothing special. But the diner somehow made the coffee fresh every time. It cost more because of it. And fresh squeezed orange juice or grapefruit juice. Essie had the former, and Joe the latter. She had tea, but even that had been done right. Loose leaves in a strainer.
“When’s mom getting here?” she asked.
“Sometime this afternoon, probably,” Joe said. “Probably took the earliest flight, because she wants to join Cheryl and Scott and me when we meet with my publisher.”
“I wish I could join you, but I have class. Another presentation.”
“Nothing this morning?”
“In about an hour.”
“Where?”
“Columbia. A long lecture class.”
“You didn’t tell me.”
“I would have wakened you if you hadn’t woken on your own.”
“We didn’t get much sleep.”
“I’m good. You?”
“I’ll need a nap.”
“Old man.”
“I’ve suggested you meet a boy your age.”
“I like my men old,” she said. They chuckled. Even with the serious undercurrent, which she acknowledged with a sigh and a nod.
Nothing else needed to be said on the subject.
They grabbed a cab home. Or at least for Joe to be dropped off there, and Essie to continue to Columbia on Joe’s nickel (so to speak).
“You had breakfast?” Moe asked him.
“Yep.”
“You guys have fun?”
“We did. Let me make breakfast?”
“Just some cornflakes.”
“Sit. Let me fix it.”
“Thanks.”
He made her coffee the way she liked it. A little sweet and a dollop of milk. She’d already had it brewing. The kids trickled in while he made her cereal with slices of banana and strawberries. He made them the same, with juice and milk instead of coffee of course. Once everyone settled down, he sat next to Moe.
“So what happened?” she asked.
“With Shawna?”
“Of course with Shawn. I know what happened with you and that little vixen.”
They chuckled. The Little Vixen had been a favorite book of Essie’s as a child, and it became a nickname, more appropriate when she got older and flirted mercilessly with Joe.
“Turned out May Tang was a dragon lady in training. Her trainer, her mother, basically encouraged the union between future Nobel Prize winner and her. But she’s lesbian, and mostly wanted Heather.”
“So she’s a conniving...”
“Yes. That’s exactly what she is. Essie basically told Shawna to go home and fix things, and we gave notice to May that she quit her position, or positions I guess, under Hans.”
“And?”
He shrugged. “I think we were pretty convincing, but like you said she’s a conniving...”
“You threatened her?” When he nodded, she asked, “With what?”
“The lesbian angle. And disrupting her parents’ little empire. Bill was brought up.”
“Good. So she’s a rich...”
“Yep. And spoiled, at least by her dad. Her mother being a dragon lady probably scared her into submission.”
“So the myth is true. Like a Jewish mother, a Chinese dragon lady.”
“In this case it seems.”
“Hunh. I should probably get ready for work. Rhonda?”
“I’ll make sure we get to school on time, Momma Moira.”
“I know you will, sweetheart,” Moe kissed her head.
Joe looked at Nathan yawning. “Late night?” he asked.
He nodded. “Sorry. Uncle Eddie...”
“Let him know growing boys need their rest.”
“I will.”
“I’ll talk to him too.”
“It was really cool though, Dad. I didn’t want to stop.”
“How about you show me what you learned later. Maybe we can jam with Uncle Eddie.”
“Cool.”
“Could I...” Rhonda started.
“Could you what?” Joe prompted.
“Uhm, I have this ... uhm ... poem, and ... uhm ... I’d like to show it to Uncle Eddie.”
“Sounds like a great idea.”
“And ... I’ve been singing in the school chorus.”
“I know you have.”
“And ... uhm ... Mr. Langhenham said I could sing solo. He said I had a good voice, and with some training...”
“You do have a sweet voice,” said Joe. “Would these be one on one training?”
“I suppose it would.”
“And when would that happen?”
“Oh. I don’t know.”
“Let him work with you in music class. Okay?”
“Okay Daddy. I guess that makes sense. But he says he has classes with some of his old students like at night or something.”
“I tell you what. How about I find you a real expert at teaching voice.”
“Mr. Langhenham is an expert, Daddy. The chorus has won awards.”
Joe sighed. Moe entered the kitchen. “Ready Malicious?” she asked the youngest.
“Yes Mommy,” Mal giggled.
“What’s wrong, Joe?” Moe asked.
“Got a second?”
“Okay. Put on your coat, honey.”
“Okay,” said Mal cutely.
Joe pulled Moe to a place near the hearth. “Carl Langhenham wants to coach Rhonda one on one.”
“You don’t trust him.”
“He gives me the creeps.”
“He’s been teaching for twenty years.”
“A lot of things get hidden in this world.”
“For twenty years?”
“Yep.”
“What do you want to do?”
“A discrete investigation.”
“What about Rhonda?”
“We’ll find her someone we can trust.”
“How about Eddie?”
“He’s never been trained.”
“But he obviously knows the mechanics. Has he ever blown out his voice?”
“Just when he got sick and pushed it.”
She nodded, kissed him and said, “I should go. Put Bill on him, if he’s going after Rhonda.”
“My thoughts exactly.”
Rhonda stood when he returned to the kitchen, expectantly. “I’m going to talk to Uncle Eddie about training you,” he told her.
She grinned widely. “That would be awesome. I wanted to sing that poem to him.”
“You have a tune?”
“Yes Daddy,” and she began to sing. She had a sweet voice, if a little reedy. Expressive, but unsteady. A song about an indigent woman she’d seen, pushing a stolen shopping cart around containing all her possessions. Her tiny home on wheels. Imagining the woman’s crazy, nostalgic mind. The tune Dylan’s Sad Eyed Lady of the Lowlands, Dylan being her current favorite singer. Worrying the song might last as long as its source music, Joe cut her short as she began the second verse.
“That’s lovely, sweetheart, but you need to get to school.”
“Thanks, Daddy.” She blushed.
After seeing his kids leave, Joe went upstairs, stripped and slipped into bed beside Cheryl. She barely regained consciousness, said a soft “Hey,” and went back to sleep. Joe’s nap commenced soon after.
When he woke a couple hours later, it didn’t surprise him that Cheryl had gotten up. He dressed and went to find her, which turned out easy since she waited for him in the living room, a legal pad in front of her.
“Joanne will be here arriving at 1 at Kennedy,” she said after a kiss. “We’ll be meeting the publishers at 3.”
“Trevor picking her up?”
“Yeah. He getting paid for all that driving?” Cheryl asked.
“I don’t know. I hope so. I don’t even know whose dime the limo’s on. I first thought it was this jock john, but Trevor’s had it for a few days.”
“Maybe it’s his dime,” she shrugged. “Sounds like he can afford it.”
“I suppose.”
“Does it matter?”
“You asked,” Joe pointed out. “You think Eddie’s up?”
“I haven’t seen him.”
“I’m going to check anyway.”
“I’m going to my office.”
“I’ll probably see you up there.”
She stood. They kissed. He took the stairs down and she took the elevator up.
Eddie was found in the little studio, dressed in sleep clothes, the same as Joe and his wives. T-shirt and boxers. “You want some coffee?” Joe asked him.
“I’m good. Sit and play your bass.”
“Sure.”
Eddie worked on a new tune, coming off the Link Wray Rumble walking bass they’d screwed around with before.
“I heard you worked with Nate,” Joe asked while they played.
“You’re right. He’s a natural.”
“You mind him jamming with us?”
Eddie snorted. “Cowsills hunh? Sure.”
“You mind working with another Solomon?”
“Who?”
“Rhonda? She’s got a pretty good voice, but it could use some training.”
“I’ve never thought about teaching my tricks. You know I figured them out on my own?”
“Yeah. You just had piano.”
“Yeah.”
“How’d you figure out not to strain yourself?”
“I felt the straining on my voice box early on. Found out if I breathed from my diaphragm and opened things up more, the strain went away. And I sounded better and a lot louder,” Eddie chuckled.
“Actors do the same. You figured that out when you were a kid?”
“Yeah.”
“Impressive.”
“We were both precocious kids. Maybe that’s why we ended up best friends.”
“I don’t know how precocious I was.”
“Of course you were. You just developed slower. I guess writing needs more development than music. But your early poems already impressed me.”
“I don’t remember you telling me that.”
“Of course not. We were boys,” Eddie chuckled. “But do you remember me asking if you’d written things?”
“I do. Because it surprised me. You gave me shit.”
“It made you laugh. Told me to go fuck myself. I thought you took it for what it was. Teasing.”
“Probably. You and Harriet were my audience for a long time. I did feel encouraged.”
“And Harry probably gave you more shit than I did.”
“She did,” Joe chuckled. “You got lyrics for this.”
“Still working it out.”
“Really?”
“It’s different now, Joe. I feel like a blank slate. This will be the hardest song I ever wrote. A song of goodbye. For the Monsters.”
“Nigella.”
“Yeah. I don’t want it to be angry. Or at least not entirely. I loved her Joe. I want to express that too.”
“Maybe I can help.”
“We’ve only collaborated on No Contest.”
“It’s my favorite Monsters tune.”
“I guess I’m partial to it too.” Eddie went into it. They harmonized, Joe taking a much deeper tone than Eddy. It felt like it sounded good to Joe. Eddie’s smile after seemed to agree. “Are you going to be my bassist?” he asked.
“I’d like that.”
“Cool. I’ll show you what I’ve got.”
“I’m thinking of writing a musical for Charlie. For Morpheus. For its final show.”
“And you want me to write the tunes.”
“Maybe we can write everything together.”
“You trust me working on the book?”
“If you can trust me working on the lyrics. The music will be all yours of course.”
“And you can be producer/director.”
“Yeah.”
Joe told him about the Little Prince idea.
“Where would an adolescent kid meet an alien?” Eddie asked.
“Maybe a runaway?”
“So they both find their way home. Sounds pretty dark.”
“I suppose it does.”
“We could make it really dark.”
“Like...”
“Abuse Joe.”
Joe took a breath. It upset him, what Eddie had to go through, though not nearly as much as it upset Eddie. “You want to go there?”
“I do.”
“You want to sexualize a beautiful 13 year old boy.”
“It’s not sexual, Joe. It’s assault. Violence. Power. Domination. Does that sound like sex to you? I mean when it’s real and not some kinky fantasy.”
“No.”
“No. Even when it’s bad sex, it’s always a partnership.”
“I wouldn’t know.”
“Fuck you, Joe.”
“Sorry.”
Eddie laughed. “I’m much better than I was. I finally got it. Getting off on my partner getting off. I think Rachel would agree.”
“That’s great Eddie. And I’m trying not to sound condescending. You know Rachel...”
“I know. I’m still okay with it.”
“I’m still not sure I am.” When the door opened, Joe said, “Speak of the devil.”
“I’ve graduated from succubus,” Rachel smirked. Wearing the sleep uniform of t shirt and boxers, the t shirt being Eddie’s faded Misfits one, its misshape showing Rachel’s tanned left shoulder, and despite her bed hair and bleary eyes, she still looked beautiful and sexy. She kissed Eddie’s cheek and asked, “Coffee?”
“Sure,” said Eddie.
“Joe?”
“I’m good.”
“I know you are,” she winked, kissing his cheek as well. Joe watched her firm, pair shaped ass shift beneath the boxers as she departed.
“You want that,” said Eddie.
“She’s never looked better,” Joe admitted.
“Tastes better too,” Eddie chuckled. “I don’t have to be there.”
“Yes you do.”
Eddie nodded. He started picking a slow jazz, shifting chords. Joe had to work to find them, and did.
“Good,” Eddie grinned. Later, he asked, “Rhonda ever have lessons?”
“Piano. Didn’t take to it.”
“Why not?”
“She’s a folky. Totally into Dylan. The early Dylan.”
“Freewheeling?”
Joe nodded. “She’s been listening to Blonde on Blonde lately, I think,” he laughed.
“What’s funny?”
“You’ll see.”
“I’ll teach her guitar, too.”
“Cool.”
Rachel came down with a couple mugs of coffee and a couple of donuts. It stopped the playing. After Eddie finished his donut, he grabbed his Altoids tin sitting atop his guitar case. Joe declined smoking. “Got a meeting today.”
“Yeah?”
“My publisher.”
“Going to sell them my book?”
Joe chuckled. It had always been Eddie’s book to Eddie. Joe thought of it as their book. “That and moms.”
“With the changes?”
“Not the chapters I give them.”
“I suppose you’re still working it in.”
“Yeah. And Joanne...” Both he and Eddie looked at Rachel.
“What?” she said. “She’s not my enemy.”
“You sure?” asked Joe.
“I’m not dancing a victory dance, okay? This is about what’s best for Eddie. She fucked up. I think I can do better.”
“It’s not like you get along,” said Joe.
“We talked about this,” she muttered.
“Right.”
“Talked about what?” Eddie asked.
Joe and Rachel looked at each other. Rachel grinned. “Just being Rache the Bache,” she said.
“That’s been well established,” Eddie pointed out.
“Yeah but Joe can be dense. Especially when defending his ladies. I had to remind him of the obvious.”
“Okay. This about turning things over to you?”
“Yeah.”
“Joanne will be here soon,” Joe looked at the digital wall clock. “I should probably get ready.”
“She going to want to meet with me?” asked Rachel, sounding nervous.
“Later. After the meeting. Or tomorrow, depending how tired she is.”
“Or how much loving she needs,” Rachel smirked.
“That too,” said Joe, looking at Eddie.
Eddie laughed. “She’s a needy lady, which always surprised me. How confident and capable she is.”
“No one can be that all the time. I give her the rock of support she needs.”
“I know what a rock you can be,” Rachel teased.
“Me too,” said Eddie.
“Jesus. I’ll leave you two to your reminiscences.” Joe put away his bass.
“They don’t necessarily have to be memories, Joe,” Rachel smirked, but her eyes expressed something else. Need? Desire? Hope? Some sort of mix. But definitely vulnerability.
“I’ll leave on that note,” Joe sighed.
He headed up to the office floor. Poked his head into Cheryl’s office. “I’m going to pull the copies together,” he said.
“I got the contract,” Cheryl said, patting her fancy briefcase that Joe gave her a couple years before at her law school graduation. “I’ll watch.”
She stood in his doorway as he gathered the copies and shoved his legal pad into his shoulder bag. “A good luck fuck?” she asked when he finished.
He glanced at the clock and nodded. “She’s probably just arrived at the airport.”
It started as a good luck suck. Cheryl kneeled in front of him, him sitting at his desk chair. She pulled away the layer between her mouth and his cock, which bounced out, fully hard. Just two deep throats later, he exploded into her mouth, which surprised both of them.
“Rachel?” she asked.
“Sorry.”
“She’s gotten hotter.”
“Yeah. Your turn.”
“That’s okay.”
“No it’s not.”
She relented. He stripped her bottom half naked. She replaced him in his chair. It took a lot longer, which they expected. He finally reached into his side desk drawer and pulled out a vibrator. She took it and sucked it to make it wet. He fucked her pussy with it, then her ass, sucking on her clit with vigor while rubbing her g spot. It may have taken a while, but her orgasm arrived explosively. Her juices covered his face. He grinned at her, her juices dripping from his chin.
“Good one,” she chuckled, breathlessly. “Is she hotter than me now, Joe?”
“Cheryl!”
“With the kids and...”
“She’s not the one I love and cherish, and...”
“But she’s hotter.”
“No, Cheryl, she’s not. You’re sexier than ever. Curvier. You know how I like my curves.”
“Don’t lie to me.”
“I never lie to you.”
“About this you would.”
“Let me check,” he said, gently tugging on her shirt. She let him remove it and her bra. He took her glasses off. Even though well used to it, he found her body and her cute and beautiful face just as wonderful and seductive to look at as ever. More, because her breasts had gotten larger and her hips broader, and exercise, which they all did in the basement in a weight room with several gadgets to keep away the fat, kept things firm. Her stretch marks had been kept subtle from lots of moisturizer, but even if more pronounced, their reason in itself would have made them sexy to him. Just as it had when they formed with their babies. He kissed every attribute, including her full sexy ass when he brought her to the cot. That brought his mouth to her sex again, and brought moans from her mouth.
“Joe,” she moaned.
He removed his boxers that had remained lowered to his thighs and crawled behind her and pushed in deep. “This is what you do to me,” he moaned.
Long low strokes scraped along her upper pussy. Fingers rubbed clit and tugged nipples. He pulled her torso up and leaned down to kiss her neck. She turned her head, and they kissed. “Fuck me my beautiful fucker,” she moaned, lowering her torso. Her fingers met his at her clit and nipple. Replacing them. He kept at her other nipple while grabbing hold of her hip and fucked her hard and fast, his strokes bringing his entire cock into play. He fucked her like that until she came, and he pushed deep, though he didn’t cum. He felt her sexual essence coat his balls in warmth, and let it cool there before he finally withdrew.
He pulled her onto his lap, and she rested her head against his shirt. “Sorry I doubted you,” she murmured.
“It’s certainly not like you.”
“I guess Rachel brings out the worst in me.”
“It’s a talent,” he said and they chuckled. “Maybe jealousy isn’t a bad thing.”
“It’s a stupid emotion,” she said. “It’s a lack of trust and I trust you to love me until death do us part.”
“Same for me, Firecracker.”
“I know.” She straddled his lap and placed his glans at her damp slit and lowered onto him until he seated deep inside her.
“We don’t have time...” he said.
“I know. It’s just a convenient place to keep it while I love you.”
“My favorite place,” he chuckled and brought his lips down to hers.
They kissed for several minutes, separating to look at each other before joining again. He remained hard inside her despite neither of them moving.
Weird at its beginning, their relationship remained weird. After ten years, couples become complacent. Any lust they had has turned to an occasional and all too familiar coming together for one or the other’s need for release. Or only when both needs conjoin. Or not at all. But the passion remained. The lust. The love.
Joe sighed. “We should get ready.”
Cheryl sighed. “I suppose we should.”
Instead they kissed some more. Like two teen lovers not wanting to end a telephone conversation, but a lot closer, and without the need for words. Finally Joe’s cock wilted and with a giggle, she slipped off his lap, no longer connected physically.
They headed to the master bathroom for a quick shower to wash off sweat and sex juices. Cheryl put on her power suit, exposed cleavage and pants that seemed to show her ass purposely making it both businesslike and sexy. Joe donned a white t shirt and underpants, black hose like socks, and headed down to the walk-in closet on the main floor.
Though a large house, Joe and his wives still needed to make compromises. The master bedroom had been one of the things that made them choose the house. Large enough for an extra-wide and extra-long custom bed and to have three people live close in but with some feeling of space. But the bathroom ended up being in need of expansion, for a bath and a shower for three, as well as two sinks, which took out most of the walk-in closet. On the same floor, the two boys and two girls bunked together. A guest room became two when divided. They got that many guests coming through. One of those had enough room for a bed, dressers and a desk. The one Essie stayed in. The other only had room for a bed and an armoire.
The main floor got transformed as well. A small guest room became the walk in closet shared by Joe and his wives and long staying guests if needed. The dining room became the kid’s playroom. They ate in the kitchen, which was another plus for buying the place because it was large and had room for a table for eight. Any more guests would make do in the living room. Any more beds, the sofa there folded out.
The attic had already been subdivided into four rooms. Servants quarters, and later for a large Catholic family. They had turned the fourth room into a half bath. The previous tenant had tossed their crap up there, even though half the space had been provided for storage.
The basement had been the most changed. Before, a room for the water heater and furnace and the washer dryer. Otherwise it had been open. Some sort of party room had been there, with a pool table, ping pong table, a wet bar and a poker table. Shelves and cabinets had provided the stashes for the equipment. They’d had to pull out the AstroTurf carpet, where they saw some proof of flooding, and had the walls and floor checked and sealed before constructing the various rooms. A deep violet runner ran down the hall between rooms. Moe’s choice. It also covered the floor in the padded room. The studio had been tiled, floor to ceiling, for acoustics. An acoustic expert had come in for that. The gym/weight room had a special floor with some slight give. Wooden slats with a thin layer of cushion from the concrete. Designed for dance and martial arts, though almost exclusively used for the latter or for exercising.
One would have thought that the two women of the house would use the majority of the walk-in, but Joe had got the bug for vintage clothes diving, and along with the bespoke suits and shirts Constance insisted he had to have, his array of vintage suits, sports jackets, slacks, shirts, and etc. rivaled Moe’s dresses, shirts, skirts and etc. Maybe twice a year they’d head up to Kingston New York, which had a couple of cool large flea markets, and points north just to find old, funky stuff. Other travels to other cities, nationally and internationally, included vintage shopping as much as possible. For Joe these excursion held the charm of treasure hunting because his height made it much harder to find things that fit. It also made him more open minded. The ugly or the tacky amused him. But all in all he dressed better than his contemporaries. Button shirts. Slacks. Sports jackets. Suits on special occasions or sometimes for the hell of it. The same with ties.
Moe also continued to dress in vintage clothing, often going to work in an old gown, the height of fashion decades before. She rarely dressed down, though she’d been known to don men’s suits when Joe wore his. Both had a tailor that fitted the aged clothes to their shape.
Cheryl, on the other hand, dressed conventionally. As casually as possible mostly. She had her little black dresses for dressing up. For official occasions, like for interviewing or contract work, which was almost always for Joe, she wore pants suits. For those she always wore the best she could find. So her part of the walk-in closet didn’t take up nearly the room as her mates. Her one exception was a rack of vintage furs. That was what she looked for when vintage clothes diving. And cool leather jackets. And sexy shoes and boots. She had the most of those. Neither Moe nor Joe looked at footwear much. Moe still liked the funky juxtaposition of fancy old dresses and army boots or sneakers. Joe only cared about comfort, and shoes his size were the hardest thing to find.
Joe chose a favorite outfit in the walk-in closet. Maroon slacks and a deep blue sports jacket. An off white dress shirt, on the tan side. No tie. He looked at himself in the angled mirror set up, like one sees in clothing store. Noticed his thick brunette hair nearly to his shoulders edged towards needing cutting. That moment when the lion mane look would soon look shaggy, but retained its attractive presence. He’d cut it fairly short soon and let it grow out again to that length.
“Admiring yourself?” Cheryl smirked, hugging his backside, her hands dipping into his jacket pockets.
“Looking for faults,” said Joe.
“You’re worthy of admiration.”
“You too, my sexy firecracker.”
They waited in the living room for Joanne’s arrival. Joe poured them a couple fingers of Armagnac in snifters to settle nerves.
When the doorbell finally rang, they both went to the door. “Sorry,” Joanne muttered, hugging Joe. “Delayed arrival and traffic.”
“We’re fine, and they’ll wait,” said Joe before kissing her. “Just cracked open some Armagnac.”
“We should probably go.”
“We can bring it along,” he said, and went back into the living room, grabbing another snifter and adding to the ones Cheryl and he had been sipping from. Fingers held two glasses suspended while the other hand held the curve of Joanne’s snifter as he slipped through the front door. Cheryl locked it behind them. Joe handed off the drinks and they crawled into the limo, Trevor at the door.
“Did you eat?” Joe asked Joanne.
“Clever Trevor bought me a sandwich at the airport while he waited.”
“I knew we forgot something,” said Cheryl.
“You guys haven’t eaten?” asked Joanne.
“Nerves,” Joe explained.
“Want me to stop somewhere?” asked Trevor.
“Maybe a slice?” Cheryl suggested.
“Any pizza joint on the way Trevor?” Joe asked.
“There’s always pizza in this town,” Trevor said.
“Okay,” Joe said.
Not long after, Trevor stopped. “I’ll grab them,” he said.
“Whatever looks freshest,” said Cheryl.
“Maybe I should come with,” said Joe. “For drinks.”
“Check the compartment,” said Trevor, hopping out the door, as usual double parked.
Joe avoided the fancy beer and splits of champagne and grabbed a ginger ale. He handed both Cheryl and Joanne Diet Cokes. When Trevor returned, large loose wedges of cheese pizzas in hand, he gave them to Cheryl and Joe before getting back in the driver’s seat. Joe and Cheryl downed the rest of their Armagnac before eating their slices.
December 23, 1991, Chicago, Illinois “You should go talk to Doctor Swanson,” Jessica said. “She’s in internal medicine. The brunette there with short hair.” “Dark blue dress?” “That’s her! She’s really sweet, and just came out of a bad relationship. She’s NOT looking for a new guy or a hookup or anything like that. But I think she could use a friend.” “I’ll give it a try,” I said. I walked over to the buffet table where Doctor Swanson was standing. “What looks good?” I asked. “At a...
Joe woke alone in bed, hearing giggles and splashes from the bathroom. A glance at the clock informed him he’d slept for a couple hours. Walking naked to the source of the sounds, he saw two very different women share a bath. One tall and lean, dark hair, her skin the color of coffee and cream, her smallish round breasts hovering above the suds of the bubble bath. The other pale, reddish blonde, her much fuller breasts on a thicker body, shorter body resting on those suds, the pink nipples...
Joe survived Black Friday, although he wasn’t sure about his right hand. They had stayed open past 2 am. A lot of the later customers he actually recognized. His rock and roll friends. Boxes and boxes of his book had been sold. A lot them signed by him personally in front of the customer. More he had signed earlier in the day. All day. Yes, it was a wonder his hand survived. Advertising had been intense. In dailies and weeklies. Nationally. Television too. Using the image of the friends on...
It became a hectic winter for Joe. Even the rural calm of the mansion wasn’t all that calming, being the center of so much work. Getting the play together. Getting the script together. Finishing up moms. Rehearsing the band. Sexually as well for Joe. Constance and Caroline. Cheryl, Cynthia and Joanne. Always a threesome or foursome for them. Joanne being the fourth. Visits from Essie. From Victoria and Liang. From Moe and Chandi. Also threesomes and foursomes. And another night with Freddy...
The master bathroom had been redone when both Joe and Cheryl had bestsellers a couple years before. A bigger tub with whirlpool jets. Room for four there and in the enclosed shower that had water spraying from all kinds of different angles. There for the first time Joe and his three wives showered together. It had been a whirlwind romance times four to be sure for Liang since Friday afternoon. Joe and his wives. Essie. As many she had been loved by, that’s how many times better the sex had...
Joe had never experienced such success. Best sellers. Well received productions. Nothing compared to the dual phenomena of hers and Rhonda. It didn’t surprise Joe that hers caused controversy. But the controversy, as well as the near across the board praise it received from reviewers and fans, made it a blockbuster. Far eclipsing everything else on the best seller list. And it generated more sales of his older books. And the book signings ended up being events in themselves. Even the ones for...
When Joe returned to his bed after months away, he almost wished he didn’t have to be away from it soon enough. At least he’d have a couple weeks before heading off for his book/rock tour. hers was being released at the end of the week, and like No Contest, he’d be at the original Barnes and Noble for a lengthy reading and signing that evening. Meanwhile MIRE featuring Rhonda would play clubs in and around the city. Despite being with them just a couple nights before, Sunday, after the wrap...
More sad goodbyes happened almost exactly a week later in New York. Joe and Cheryl to their wives and kids and Essie, who was sort of both. Joe and Cheryl had business to take care of before they headed to Minnesota. For Joe, one thing had to do with school, completing the grading and conferring with students who either challenged his grades or wanted to know what would make the grades better in future classes. He also needed to deal with his publisher, discussing plans for moms and for any...
Joe woke up early, kissing Liana awake. “I need to check on Chandi,” he told her. “Yes Joseph,” she smiled tiredly and rolled away from him to return to sleep. Realizing his nakedness, he borrowed Liana’s longest robe and slipped out of her room. He ended up waking up Cheryl in the naughty room. “Do you know where Chandi went?” he asked. “I believe Eddie and Rachel ended up sharing her last night.” “Good,” he smiled. “Essie wants you,” Cheryl murmured, edging back to sleep. Joe crawled...
The threesome in the padded room awoke making love. That is, Joanne woke Liang, both giggling like girls, Joanne a far greater distance from it than Liang, and they worked together again to harden Joe’s cock and wake him with their sucking. “Go ahead,” said Joanne. “Fuck that beautiful thing.” “But you’re leaving,” Liang pointed out. “She’ll get hers too,” Joe chuckled, then moaned as Liang practically flung her cunt onto his cock. “Slow down,” he warned, catching her hips. She winced...
When Cheryl and Joe got home to their Upper Westside townhouse, he knew where he needed to go immediately. Top floor. The floor for their offices. To Moe. Who stewed in her anger. Probably had been for a while. “He’s fucking here, Joe,” she said. He opened his arms. She filled them. “What’s he doing here?” she asked. “I don’t know. I’ll find out.” “He wants another chance to fuck all your women.” “I hope not. But I don’t think so.” “Then why?” “Maybe he needs a friend.” “But he hates...
Two days later, and Cheryl and Joe sat around in Joanne’s living room, the house otherwise deserted. Both Ella and Charlie were in school. Joanne was at work, still supporting local artists. The couple were doing what they had done ten years before. Both working on their writing. Cheryl somehow responding to Joe’s questions while finishing a memorial article honoring Nigella for Rolling Stone. Still staff, but with an ideal contract and better pay. Complete rights of refusal. When an editor...
Joe and Liana entered a large room on the main floor, a huge bed at the back where his wives waved to him, still naked. “Hi Leo,” Cheryl said. “Do you mind if our man gives us a morning hug?” “Uhm, no,” Liana blushed. Joe took off his clothes and joined them. “Liana wants to meet with us this morning, Cheryl. And Moira,” he said as he lay on his back, his wives all around him, with Liang on top. “And we’ll need to get Rachel.” “I think she just wanted some time with Eddie this morning,”...
Pynchon proved a bear to speed read. ““Glean what you can,” Joe advised. “We’re just a third of the way through.” “I figured,” said Liang. “You missed a week.” “Yeah. I’ll probably have to just have one week for Vineland.” “Or you could start the class a half hour earlier. And have the other class last a half hour longer.” “First, we’re talking about college students.” “With you, I bet they don’t mind.” “I’ll ask. And the afternoon class actually tends to go on longer.” “I’m not...
It became a noisy place early near the garage entrance to the Cube. First thing in the morning the equipment for filming the tour/ad/orgy arrived. Two 35mm film cameras, one with steadycam to be held. Two top notch video cameras. A large wide format video tape recorder which would also be used for sound for the film. Lights. Cables. Mics. Experts for each of those things, though most would leave when Jonny demonstrated his knowledge of the cameras and lights and Eddie showed that he could...
The five lovers awoke remarkably comfortable with their adjacency and their nakedness. Quick kisses avoiding morning breath, only the two males and brother and sister not kissing, and they dressed in yesterday’s clothing before gathering in the gathering cabin where Anna provided eggs, sausage, toast, juice and coffee. Victoria and Charlie headed back to duty on the ship, raising the anchor and heading home, while Essie, Joe and Liang sat together on the couch, watching the others join them,...
Joe got up late for him. 10 am. Whatever he did prior to awakening, or in its act, farting, shifting, making some vocal noise or other, awoke Cheryl. They smiled at each other and she snuggled against him, her head resting between shoulder and chest, her fingers exploring his sparse chest hair. “Eddie wants me in the band again,” he told her. “How is that going to work?” “I think his regrouping is regressing.” “Which means?” “We didn’t go out in the world for months. Just rehearsed. A...
With his last spark of energy, Eddie brought Rhonda’s tape to the Record Plant Tuesday morning, where they’d print the vinyl and the CD. Packaging would have to wait, hopefully for not too long. Belle dropped off Eddie at Joanne’s, where he collapsed into the bed, only briefly waking up Rachel. “Done?” she asked. “Yep.” He quickly joined her in sleep. His didn’t last long. In fact only Rachel got much sleep, since everyone else had gotten up early. Joe wanted to see Joanne before she went...
Gayle wasn’t with Joe much in Seattle. Once she got the copies, she spent her time studying them. Also Joe welcomed Moe, Chandi and Liang back. But playwright and director managed to chat from time to time. Mostly in transit to the shows or to the reading. Or after dinner. Shows. It was the first stop where shows were added. Two more. Joe postponed his poetry reading to the following night. By then, Sunday, the three visitors had flown back home. And Joanne and Gayle had another night of...
During the flight, Eddie changed seats with Cheryl to sit with Joe, putting her beside Rachel. Though things had thawed greatly compared to their cold and fractious relationship before, the two women still hadn’t got all that close. And when Rachel joined her in the large bed, they no longer made love directly. Even so, both intelligent women, they managed to enjoy their travelling together, often amusing each other with an anecdote or a memory. “What’s up?” Joe asked Eddie. “You’re still...
Eddie and Joe tied one on at the wake. Joe’s wives too, and almost everyone else there. Joanne stopped for an hour, but by the time they closed the bar, she was wasted too. But Eddie would have the dubious honor of being the most shit faced. And Joe did notice him going off a couple times, usually with members of other local bands who somehow found out about the wake. And his sniffing and hopping and more extreme lunacy suggested cocaine rather than cannabis. He seemed to making up time for...
When Liang asked her auntie about any recommendations for a rather large contingent for dining, Auntie Li thought she and her ladies of her exclusive women’s society could throw something together. The meeting place had a kitchen where the ladies could exchange recipes. It was highly unusual to have men present in the space, but since it wasn’t an official meeting of the ladies, and the members were fond of Liang, and the dinner would include her new lovers and new friends, curiosity as much...
When Joe exited the padded room in the morning and passed the studio, Rachel called to him from there. “Is she up?” she asked him. “In a hurry?” Joe chuckled. “I’ve wanted this for a while.” “She’s up. How about we have breakfast and then we’ll meet in Cheryl’s office. I’ll get Joanne and then get Cheryl.” “For the contracts.” “Yes.” “I’ll go make coffee.” “Thanks. See you in a minute.” He sighed he when returned to the padded room and sat on the bed. “Rachel’s ready to meet,” he told...
The house wouldn’t look odd at all in the suburb of an American city. In a suburb of Paris, it did. As would the others around it. Three story clapboard with a garage part of its structure. Joe rented a Citroen, and had the limo driver, who had been approved by those that had given them the information about the place, drive them to the location. A limousine would be far too obvious in the neighborhood. The house’s owners didn’t need that. They had waited for the car’s arrival and opened the...
The party proved a huge success for several people. Joe put on some quiet jazz. Mostly Coltrane and Miles. But that was changed to Eddie quietly playing his twelve string. Joe joined him in the living room, playing Nigella’s old acoustic/electric bass. Then Charlie tinkled the ivories with them. A girl joined him at the piano bench. Another nervous and shy genius. The youngest of Essie’s precocious genius classmates. A pretty little brunette, especially when she relaxed, which she did after...
It rained the next day. Off and on. Making it cooler than usual, but being near the equator, that was relative. A balmy seventies. But it kept people indoors, mostly. It also revealed a missing aspect of the Cube. It wasn’t exactly designed for kids. So Anna and the Barbadian family matriarch brought out some cards and a couple cribbage boards and taught the kids how to play. Victoria, Essie and Liang decided to brave the weather and spent the day tooling around the island on the motorbikes....
By Thanksgiving, not a lot had been done turning the duplex houses into a single townhouse compared to the immense amount that needed to be done. Tony and his helpers, Cheryl having gotten him a contractor license, had been focusing on Eddie’s basement studio and apartment as a priority during work hours. In the evenings he and Laura had worked on their own space. He had also built a huge bed, and found a mattress place that could create one custom sized and have sheets for it. It remained in...
The Cube, as Eddie’s working vacation home had been appropriately dubbed, was designed by a mad genius with a sense of humor. A Barbadian, as were all who worked on it, whose design process had included smoking excessive amounts of ganja with Eddie. An impressively large cube had been the result, made of concrete, glass and steel. But it had a façade that pretended to be an English Colonial mansion. Being that Barbados had been an English colony, and had gained its independence as a part of...
After Joe and his wives finally got up, enjoyed the large shower together and got dressed, Joe opened the blinds to the studio and saw Cynthia sitting with Rachel with Eddie playing his guitar between them. Joe fetched Cynthia and discovered how stoned she was. “Uhm, you okay working on the script?” he asked her. “Uh-hunh,” she giggled. He shook his head and chuckled. He went to the kitchen where his wives sat and the matron was making waffles. Maria, as she often was, was there as well....
As Joe promised, he spent the day with Victoria. They woke early and went to the naughty room to collect his wives and Essie. After showering and Victoria reporting to them her soreness but otherwise having a wonderful deflowering, they dressed and headed to the kitchen for a Continental breakfast of pastries and coffee. The Barbadian matron arrived midway through and offered something more substantial, but they passed. “Any place for exercising? A workout room?” Joe asked the older...
Everyone, including Julian and Liv, returned to the Cube. Those two only stayed through dinner, deliciously created by Maria. Surprisingly, Anna went with them back to their ship. She said she needed to do some cleaning. But Joe noticed Liv flirting with her. He thought that a good thing. Anna and Julian loved each other. But sex seemed to have petered out between them. He hoped adding Liv might restore their sex lives. He decided to wait to talk to Victoria and Charlie until after dinner,...
Very early the next morning, Rachel woke up Joe and his wives. “Where is he, Joe?” she growled. “Where is that little cocksucker?” He couldn’t help laughing. Appropriate word choice. But then he got serious. “Be quiet, Rachel. Let’s go downstairs.” “I don’t want to be quiet.” “Shut the fuck up, bitch,” said Moe. “You better not wake the kids.” “Fuck you. What are you going to do?” “Beat the bitch out of you?” Moe growled, getting out of bed, dressed like Cheryl and Joe, in t shirt and...
“Nice,” said Liang about the townhouse. It had been built originally in the late eighteen hundreds, but refurbished and changed in the 20s, including the art noveau entrance. The open, shaped metal slat elevator also reflected that soft, decadent style. Definitely attractants. “We like it,” said Joe, unlocking the door. Joe and Cheryl greeted their kids with kisses on cheeks, and their wife with kisses on mouth and a hug. “This is Liang,” Joe introduced her to his family. “Hi,” the kids...
The Thursday evening date went surprisingly well. Joe managed to get a table at a new French bistro, romantically dark. The heavy food, magnificently prepared, chased down the palate by a delicious rosé got danced away later. But while eating it, the five enjoyed a lively conversation, completely inclusive. Rachel even encouraged Trevor’s inclusion. It was clear at the beginning that he treaded carefully around her, used to her angry glares. Except for the first one when Eddie climbed into...
No Anesthetic For Love At the Krokodil Klub Part2 Silkie tells this story from Paris, while at a nightclub, twenty years later....She is with her friend Denis and her sister, Rachel. It is her birthday. Silkie is so happy and excited to be performing with her sister...........Rachel was a well-known jazz pianist in the U.S and Europe, she had recorded ten LP's and now several CDs, some solo, some with other artists most recently, Stan Getz, Duke Jordan and another session that she had enjoyed...
Silkie tells this story from Paris, while at a nightclub, twenty years later....She was with her friend Denis and her sister, Rachel. It was her birthday. Silkie was so happy and excited to be performing with her sister...Rachel had finally had her Asberger's diagnosed, not that it changed anything about how she lived her life................. "It's nice to have a name for being as weird as I am." Rachel was a piano phenomenon from the age of three, composing her own pieces at age four and...
Farty Jimbo answered the phone. “Hello” said Farty Jimbo “Hello, this is Tuesday” said the voice on the phone “No,” said Farty Jimbo “This is Sunday. I know for a fact.” “No, I mean this is Tuesday Wells. I don’t know what day it is there. It may very well be Sunday.” “Well it is Sunday, and I don’t know any Tuesday Wells.” Said Farty Jimbo “Well I guess we haven’t met yet, but we will. It was hard getting a hold of you.” Said Tuesday Wells. “I know this all must sound...
It was still early on Sunday night and I had the urge to talk to Marcie. She was comically critical of my commitment to get Smyth laid. "What made you volunteer for such an enormous feat, Sammy?" "I don't know." I did know, but I wasn't ready to admit to Marcie that I had heard Shirley tell me to turn the tables on Smyth for spying on me and my guests. "How do you plan to carry it out?" "I don't know." I really didn't know, but my sub-conscience was working on a plan. "Who...
Twenty years go by. Silkie Greene had to give up her dream of singing opera roles on stage and has been singing jazz for many years. She is headlining at Club Crocodil in Paris. Her sister Rachel, an internationally famous pianist, is on stage with her. Her friend and lover Denis DeRuhe is at the club to see both of them. All three of them have been lovers for and wth each other, for may years:Two months before this evening,Silkie had learned that her friend and lover, Denis, was HIV positive....
It was the Fourth of July, 1991, and I was washing Holly's car when Sandy came out her front door, obviously dressed for a party. "Do you have someplace to go today, Sammy?" she asked when she reached her car. "Yes, I'm going to a cookout." Her smile was one of relief, probably because she wouldn't feel obligated to ask me to tag along with her. "I hope you have a good time." "Thanks, Sandy. Are you ready for your trip?" "I've packed everything, but I'll probably have to...
I got a call from Marty on Monday afternoon, late. “I need to have my head examined, but I’m in. If you still want me, let me know. I haven’t given any notice yet.” “What about your law firm, Dewey Cheatem and Howe? Is this going to screw up any partnership bids? How does that work, anyway?” Marty snorted. “That’s part of it. I have been weighed in the balance and found wanting. I nosed around some this morning, and there won’t be a partnership offer made to me. At least, not under current...
We flew out from RAF Brize Norton on the 14th November in some huge Yank aircraft, a Galaxy I think, they all look alike to me. As I sat in my relatively comfortable seat I thought of the last time I had gone to war; in a luxurious cruise liner no less, the QE II. Of course we had travelled squaddie class and didn't have white coated stewards waiting on us hand foot and finger. It took nearly 5 weeks to get down to the Islands, and I made some good mates amongst 3 Para, my travelling...
The battalion arrived back in Aldershot around the middle of March and were given a week's leave. Pippa was overjoyed to see me home safe and sound, and during my first two days back home we hardly stirred out of her bed. That sounds as if we had a frenzy of a sex- fest, but nothing could have been further from the truth. I couldn't get it up. I couldn't do the business. I was impotent- I was mortified! She was sympathetic and loving, and gave me blow jobs and hand jobs, but it wasn't...
It was a very quiet night as I walked the sidewalk of downtown Mohinta. The laser sign still blaring brightly, "open" made me stop. I never could pass up the opportunity to go into an adult store when I saw one, so this one was no different. I always just wanted to look around. Sometimes I saw things I should not see. Other times, I saw the same things. But it never failed for there to be at least one guy standing with his hard cock sticking out of his pants getting ready to cum on the floor. I...
Straight SexForeword: This is a work of fiction. None of the people in this story are real. None of these events ever happened. This story is nothing more than words that came from my imagination. Any similarity to any real people, places, or events is purely coincidental. This story is a sequel to CO-ED TANDEM BEER PISSING CONTEST. Operators of erotic story web sites and other collections, whether free or fee-based, have my permission to post and/or distribute my stories, provided that credit is given...
Chapter 1 Contest Winner, and Then Some Ok, so at 46 I really had no business trying to win Justin Bieber tickets. Save for the fact I wanted into the after concert party, and OK a chance to meet Justin and maybe some of his dancers. It was really the after concert party I wanted into, his road crew and his backup talent is just as hot as he is and who knows I might just get lucky with one of them. As the title suggests I did win, my sister and most of my friends we pissed, to say the least,...
Krish had advised me, before we buried the the young Chasseur of the Guard officer, that if I intended disinterring him at a later date then certain actions needed to be carried out to prevent a rapid decomposing of the corpse. The first was to wrap the body in a tightly tied blanket, or ground sheet, keeping the material close to the corpse. The depth of the burial should be at least six feet, which would save the corpse from being disturbed by ploughing, or being dug up by animals. The...
Dear Authors, We hope you’re doing well. ISS would like to invite you to participate in a competition in the ‘Poetry/Jokes category.’ The contest: 1)The contest will run from 05 February 2023 to 19 February 2023. 2)The content can have any number of jokes or poetry, but it should be adult/xxx jokes/poetry. 3) It should be a minimum of 1000 words of content. 4) There shouldn’t be any sort of plagiarism. The entire work should be original and not be published anywhere on the internet...
A warm beam of sunlight played on my face, and under its benign caress I swam slowly up from a deep sleep. For a moment I could not recall where I was, but then realised I was lying in the four-poster bed in Annette’s boudoir. It was the most comfortable bed I could ever recall being in. The thick luxurious mattress, stuffed with eider down, was both supportive to my body and yet comforting. I sat up. The pillow next to mine was rumpled, and on pulling back the sheet saw the unmistakable...
This wasn’t the first New Year’s Eve party we’d attended at our friend’s house but it was the most memorable one. When we got there the party was in full swing, probably about 60 people mostly couples but there were quite a few single people. I was chatting up a divorced woman, Lucy, she was 47 and had been ‘single’ for seven years. Donna had had a few lagers and was on the whisky, we met up in the kitchen when she said “Anyone here you fancy?” “Yes her over there” pointing at Lucy, “You” I...
(author's note): Silkie, now thirty-eight, is telling her lover Denis, about things that happened in her life before she was eighteen. I don't know if her anecdote violates guidelines for this site or not. Can fictional adults in a piece of fiction talk about events in their past? Silkie might even be making some of this up for Denis' pleasure, which adds yet another layer of fiction to the story, I don't know the answer, so I'll just put it out there and see what happens. Thanks!...
Denis went to his hotel.Silkie had to run a few errands. She went to his room two hours later. Denis had already finished most of a bottle of wine."You know I'm the kind of man who has a hard time getting hard after I've been drinking, Silkie...""Denis, I love you hard or soft, lover. I 'm going to take off my clothes for you. No, I don't have a body like I did when I was eighteen.....................do you like to see it? Do you?""The sight of you nude haunts me, Silkie. Your neck, your back...
"Julian, we would like some more wine and that hashish you and I had the other night............yes, that night, dear...........is any of that left?.............but before you go............ "Rachel what do you prefer, men or women?" "Silkie, you are messing with me..........I like............ummmmm...what shall I say?.............I like to have my face between a woman's thighs while I feel a man do me from behind..........oh..I like that a lot.....Julian, I packed Sylvia's ass with...
This wasn’t the first New Year’s Eve party we’d attended at our friend’s house but it was the most memorable one. When we got there the party was in full swing, probably about 60 people mostly couples but there were quite a few single people. I was chatting up a divorced woman, Lucy, she was 47 and had been ‘single’ for seven years.Donna had had a few lagers and was on the whisky, we met up in the kitchen when she said “Anyone here you fancy?” “Yes her over there” pointing at Lucy, “You” I...
Thinking it over - Home and Hearth "You were great last night, you sexy devil!" His-fresh shaved face nuzzled my ear and I smiled without opening my eyes. "I gave them their cereal, so you can sleep in for half an hour." David lingered and fondled my bare breasts while he nuzzled my neck. "Thanks. I'm almost awake," I said. "You're a brute. Just look at the state you left me in." He laughed with self-congratulating pleasure. "I gotta go, see you tonight!" I sat up and then...
Work on Monday got off to a horrendous start when Neill rejected a load of concrete. The driver became enraged and for a minute I thought he and Neill were going to come to blows. I overheard Neill speaking to the concrete company on the phone, telling them the consistency was not up to spec and what they could do with the load. Sending the driver away with a truckload of concrete threw the schedule into turmoil and the mood of everyone at the construction site into the dumpster. Tradesmen...
The ringing telephone disturbed my sleep and before I even picked it up a thought entered my clouded mind; I'd slept like a baby. The dream was gone. Cassie, realizing that she had awakened me, apologized before delivering the good news. She and her family would accept my invitation to use Holly's pool. "What time should we come?" she wanted to know and I told her any time would be fine. She must have handed the phone to Doris, who said they would leave their house about four P.M. It...
We stopped at a market and while Patti was shopping, saying she preferred to shop alone because my tagging along would distract her, I killed time at the drugstore next door. I found what I was looking for, Dining out in Atlanta, the magazine Smyth had boasted his articles appeared in. I picked up the July and August issues of the magazine and on my way to the cash register I spotted the condom display, my favorite section in the store. How could I not stop and admire the colorful packages?...